1. 10 Tips & Tricks for
Getting the most out
of Open Atrium

2. EVP, Strategy
Email: kborchert@phase2technology.com
Karen Borchert
Twitter: @openatrium @karenborchert @phase2
Phase2

3. What is Open Atrium?

4. Open Atrium is open source collaboration software
used to build intranets, portals, & collaboration
platforms for organizations.

5. Features!

6. Extensible Intranet
• Documents
• Events
• Discussions
• Multimedia
• Mobile Access
• Data Privacy

7. Social Collaboration Platform
• Discussions
• Custom Dashboards
• Multimedia
• Events Calendar
• Activity Streams
• Notifications
• Social tools

8. Knowledge Management System
• Document
Management
• Multimedia
• Mobile Access
• Data Privacy
• Identity
Management
• Workflow
• Tags & Taxonomies

9. Learning Management System
• Document
Management
• Course Calendar
• Multimedia
• Learning Tools
• Identity Management
• Discussions

10. So you downloaded
the code...

11. And you’re like...YAY!

12. And then you’re like...what?

13. In case you’re wondering why:
• When you build a Drupal distribution, you can be REALLY flexible...
• Or you can be REALLY easy to create a website right out of the
box...
• But it’s REALLY hard to be both at the same time.
• We chose flexibility.
• That means you can create the collaboration tool you NEED,
without all the crap-ola you don’t want.

14. When you’re using Open Atrium:
• Consider your process first, tools second.
• Consider who’s going to use it, and how.
• Start small and expand with success.

15. But let’s give you a
little bit of help.

16. Tip #1:
Know Your Groups
from Your Spaces

17. Groups are for people.
Spaces are for work.“ ”

18. Your OA site accommodates anyone from
the anonymous internet user to collections
of members on your site.
Open Atrium ships with the following types
of content:
Open Atrium 2 Building Blocks
Open

19. Atrium

20. is

21. built

22. to

23. organize

24. people

25. and

26. content

27. in

28. ways

29. that

30. maximize

31. collaboration

32. without

33. sacrificing

34. data

35. security.

36. Like

37. a

38. filing

39.
cabinet

40. that

41. has

42. some

43. drawers

44. locked

45. and

46. others

47. open,

48. OA

49. allows

50. granular

51. control

52. over

53. who

54. can

55. access

56. which

57. parts

58. of

59. your

60. site.
document

61. pages,

62. wiki

63. pages,

64.
articles,

65. and

66. document

67.
management
DOCUMENTS
EVENTS
DISCUSSIONS
calendaring

68. with

69. iCal

70.
integration

71. and

72. geolocation
forums,

73. discussion

74. posts,

75.
and

76. media

77. attachments

78. to

79.
conversations
WORKTRACKER
Monitor

80. projects,

81. milestones,

82.
and

83. deliverables
ContentPermissionsStructurePeople
PUBLIC
PRIVATE
MIXED-MODE
+
any

84. registered

85. user

86. can

87. see

88.
this

89. space
only

90. members

91. of

92. the

93. space

94. can

95.
access

96. the

97. content
the

98. top

99. level

100. space

101. is

102. public,

103. but

104.
with

105. many

106. private

107. areas

108. nested

109.
below
Control who has access to what content from
the individual member to multiple groups of
users.
a

110. collection

111. of

112. content.

113. Similar

114. to

115. a

116.
filing

117. cabinet
OA lets you build the information architecture
that meets the need of your content.
an

118. additional

119. division

120. of

121. content

122.
within

123. a

124. space,

125. like

126. the

127. drawer

128. of

129.
your

130. filing

131. cabinet
where

132. your

133. content

134. actually

135. lives

136. on

137.
your

138. site,

139. like

140. the

141. file

142. folder

143. in

144. the

145.
drawer
a

146. user

147. with

148. access

149. to

150. your

151.
site's

152. spaces
a

153. collection

154. of

155. users

156. that

157. span

158.
a

159. related

160. purpose

161. across

162.
multiple

163. spaces
an

164. ad-hoc

165. collection

166. of

167. users

168.
specific

169. to

170. one

171. space
TEAM
MEMBER
GROUP
SECTION
SUB-SPACE
SPACE

172. Your OA site accommodates anyone from
the anonymous internet user to collections
of members on your site.
PermisStructurePeople
PUBLIC
PRIVATE
MIXED-M
+
any

173. regis
this

174. spac
only

175. mem
access

176. th
the

177. top

178. le
with

179. man
below
Control who has acces
the individual member
users.
a

180. collection

181. of

182. content.

183. Similar

184. to

185. a

186.
filing

187. cabinet
OA lets you build the information architecture
that meets the need of your content.
an

188. additional

189. division

190. of

191. content

192.
within

193. a

194. space,

195. like

196. the

197. drawer

198. of

199.
your

200. filing

201. cabinet
where

202. your

203. content

204. actually

205. lives

206. on

207.
your

208. site,

209. like

210. the

211. file

212. folder

213. in

214. the

215.
drawer
a

216. user

217. with

218. access

219. to

220. your

221.
site's

222. spaces
a

223. collection

224. of

225. users

226. that

227. span

228.
a

229. related

230. purpose

231. across

232.
multiple

233. spaces
an

234. ad-hoc

235. collection

236. of

237. users

238.
specific

239. to

240. one

241. space
TEAM
MEMBER
GROUP
SECTION
SUB-SPACE
SPACE
Your OA site accommodates anyone from
the anonymous internet user to collections
of members on your site.
PeStructurePeople
+
Control who
the individua
users.
a

242. collection

243. of

244. content.

245. Similar

246. to

247. a

248.
filing

249. cabinet
OA lets you build the information architecture
that meets the need of your content.
an

250. additional

251. division

252. of

253. content

254.
within

255. a

256. space,

257. like

258. the

259. drawer

260. of

261.
your

262. filing

263. cabinet
where

264. your

265. content

266. actually

267. lives

268. on

269.
your

270. site,

271. like

272. the

273. file

274. folder

275. in

276. the

277.
drawer
a

278. user

279. with

280. access

281. to

282. your

283.
site's

284. spaces
a

285. collection

286. of

287. users

288. that

289. span

290.
a

291. related

292. purpose

293. across

294.
multiple

295. spaces
an

296. ad-hoc

297. collection

298. of

299. users

300.
specific

301. to

302. one

303. space
TEAM
MEMBER
GROUP
SECTION
SUB-SPACE
SPACE

304. Organizations should consider...
• Who are your people?
• How do they interact?
• What is the work that you do?
• What is needed to do that work?
• How do your people accomplish
that work?
• Program managers, volunteers
• Plan shifts, volunteer for shifts
• Tutor kids, report results
• Place to discuss; shared calendar
• Share a discussion forum and a
calendar to coordinate volunteer
needs and schedule shifts

305. Title Text
space
sections!

306. Title Text

307. Title Text
space
sections
groups
teams

308. Groups are for people.
Spaces are for work.“ ”

309. Tip #2:
Use. the. tours.

310. Look for this:

311. We made some for you:

312. Tip #3:
Make it yours:
use custom banners and colors.

313. Quick Cheat: Change Colors
• Be in the space you want to change
• Gear
• Config
• Appearance

314. Quick Cheat: Remove Logo
• Admin
• OA
• Plugin Settings
• Uncheck “Default Banner”

315. Tip #4:
Use widgets to create a
“dashboard.”

316. Quick Cheat: Widgets
• Go to space page
• “Customize this page”
• + Button in the area you want to add a widget
• Choose your widget! (Hint: Look in Open Atrium and Open
Atrium Events widgets for many relevant ones)
• Configure
• Drag and Drop to correct place

317. Tip #5:
Be creative with section types.

318. Use This For That:
• Use “News Section” for docs, materials, and assets.
• Use “Discussions” to gather stories, ideas, suggestions,
feedback.
• Use “Work” for project management, tasking, to-do lists,
and status updates.
• Use “Calendar” for events listings and calendars.

319. Tip #6:
Is it a one-time task force, adhoc
group, or focused project team?
Then it’s a “team.”

320. Quick Cheat: Teams
• MEMBERS button
• Teams
• Create New Team button
• Name team and choose members
• Assign team to a section

321. Tip #7:
Help users discover content
with a space menu.

322. Quick Cheat: Menus
• Customize this page
• + for a new widget
• MENU
• GROUP MENU
• Configure

323. Tip #8:
Customize your tasks for your
organization's workflow.

324. Quick Cheat: Tasks
• Go to top level space
• Gear
• Config
• Variables
• Work Tracker Settings
• Edit as appropriate

325. Tip #9:
Use notifications to keep people
updated on relevant content.

326. Tip #10:
Like that space?
Clone it to Replicate,
Create a blueprint to
use in the future.

327. Tip #11:
Contact us. Seriously.
Extra Special Bonus!

328. If You Need Help With...
• Knowing whether OA2 is right for you...
• A bug you found...
• Selling the idea of this internally...
• A bucket of hours to help your team...
• Training on using Open Atrium...
• Spinning up OA in a hosted environment...
• Developing your OA strategy and plan...
• Getting Started with Drupal...
info@openatrium.com
drupal.org/project/openatrium
Read this article. Then call us.
info@openatrium.com
NYC Camp! April 10 - 13.
getpantheon.com/openatrium
Jumpstart Packages!
Try drupalize.me and drupal.org

329. Get Started!

330. Give it a Try!
• Open Atrium is an open source distribution of Drupal code.
• It is free to download to anyone. (drupal.org/project/openatrium)
• Installing the code from Drupal requires technical
knowledge and an understanding of Drupal.
• Less-technical teams can try out Open Atrium in a hosted
environment, like on Pantheon. (getpantheon.com)
• A developer team can help you use or customize it.

331. Within a section
Your OA site accommodates anyone from
the anonymous internet user to collections
of members on your site.
Open Atrium ships with the following types
of content:
+
SECTION
Benefits

332. Discussion

333.
Forum
SECTION
Employee

334. Benefits
SECTION
Company

335. Policies
Within

336. a

337. section

338.
are

339. content

340. items
HTML
Pages
Events
Discussions
SECTION
New

341. Policy

342. Feedback

343. Forum
SECTION
Drafted

344. Company

345. Policies
SECTION
Salary

346. Info
Employee

347. Contracts
SUB-SPACE
SPACESPACE
SUB-SPACE
ACME HR
Open Atrium 2 Building Blocks
A Case Study
Open

348. Atrium

349. is

350. built

351. to

352. organize

353. people

354. and

355. content

356. in

357. ways

358. that

359. maximize

360. collaboration

361. without

362. sacrificing

363. data

364. security.

365. Like

366. a

367. filing

368.
cabinet

369. that

370. has

371. some

372. drawers

373. locked

374. and

375. others

376. open,

377. OA

378. allows

379. granular

380. control

381. over

382. who

383. can

384. access

385. which

386. parts

387. of

388. your

389. site.
The

390. Acme

391. Company

392. took

393. the

394. building

395. blocks

396. of

397. the

398. OA

399. 2

400. components

401. above

402. to

403. create

404. an

405. intranet

406. that

407. meets

408. their

409. content

410. creation,

411.
asset

412. storage,

413. collaboration,

414. and

415. security

416. needs.

417.
document

418. pages,

419. wiki

420. pages,

421.
articles,

422. and

423. document

424.
management
DOCUMENTS
EVENTS
DISCUSSIONS
calendaring

425. with

426. iCal

427.
integration

428. and

429. geolocation
forums,

430. discussion

431. posts,

432.
and

433. media

434. attachments

435. to

436.
conversations
WORKTRACKER
Monitor

437. projects,

438. milestones,

439.
and

440. deliverables
ContentPermissionsStructurePeople
PUBLIC
PRIVATE
MIXED-MODE
+
any

441. registered

442. user

443. can

444. see

445.
this

446. space
only

447. members

448. of

449. the

450. space

451. can

452.
access

453. the

454. content
the

455. top

456. level

457. space

458. is

459. public,

460. but

461.
with

462. many

463. private

464. areas

465. nested

466.
below
Control who has access to what content from
the individual member to multiple groups of
users.
a

467. collection

468. of

469. content.

470. Similar

471. to

472. a

473.
filing

474. cabinet
OA lets you build the information architecture
that meets the need of your content.
an

475. additional

476. division

477. of

478. content

479.
within

480. a

481. space,

482. like

483. the

484. drawer

485. of

486.
your

487. filing

488. cabinet
where

489. your

490. content

491. actually

492. lives

493. on

494.
your

495. site,

496. like

497. the

498. file

499. folder

500. in

501. the

502.
drawer
a

503. user

504. with

505. access

506. to

507. your

508.
site's

509. spaces
a

510. collection

511. of

512. users

513. that

514. span

515.
a

516. related

517. purpose

518. across

519.
multiple

520. spaces
an

521. ad-hoc

522. collection

523. of

524. users

525.
specific

526. to

527. one

528. space
TEAM
MEMBER
GROUP
SECTION
SUB-SPACE
SPACE
Worktracker
Registered users of the
ACME INTRANET
ACME's HR employees with
access to multiple spaces
ACME's leadership with
access to multiple spaces
GROUP GROUPMEMBERS
Executives HR Department
Works on new policies in a
restricted section
TEAM
Policy WritersEmployees
+
HR

529. Work

530. Space
SUB-SPACE
Atrium Docs
& Videos
!
docs.openatrium.com
!
vimeo.com/phase2
!
slideshare.net/phase2technology
Read & Watch

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sections
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